How did you decide your profession
Hello! My name is Autumn and I am currently working towards becoming a SLP or perhaps an audiologist. That being the case, I wanted to ask for some opinions or reasons you chose the profession you did? Are you happy where you are today? Would you change any part of your life path up until this point? Thank you, have a wonderful day!
Autumn
Hi Autumn,
I think possibly everyone has their own individual reasons for choosing their own career pathway. For me personally, I chose at about the age of 17 that I wanted to study Speech and Language Therapy at university (undergraduate degree). I was fortunate to be able to arrange some work experience shadowing an SLT for a few days before I applied to university and observation and conversations with her helped me feel confident that this was the career path I wanted to take. Having said that, I definitely had a narrow view of the scope of SLT at that time. During my university degree I learnt more about the different people SLTs can work with, and the wide range of skills SLTs have. I enjoyed a variety of clinical placements during my studies and again, learnt through experience which aspects of the SLT role I enjoyed. When I qualified, I worked as a generalist for a while before choosing to specialise and work with people who stutter, and pursuing additional training to allow me to do that.
I am very happy working within the stuttering world both locally, nationally and internationally. It’s a good fit for me and I love the community spirit.
This is a very personal answer, it will be interesting for you to hear what the others on the panel say about their own journeys. Good luck with your profession, whichever path you choose!
Jenny
Hello, Autumn! I am so excited to answer this question! First of all, whether you decide to be an SLP or an Audiologist, both professions are equally exciting!!! Even as an SLP, your Praxis exam will have audiograms on it- we cross paths a lot until Audiology students go for that doctorate (here in America, at least.) With that, I am so happy I chose to be an SLP and I have never ever looked back. I went into my undergraduate studies as a speech pathology major and never changed. Now, some students are second bachelor’s seeking, some level, some students I have supervised are older than my mother- no matter your journey it is beautiful, and meant to be- and whatever that is, it is FINE. Your age doesn’t matter, your timing doesn’t matter, what matters is YOU are happy and doing what is right for you and no one else. I went into the SLP field because I have a brother who stutters. He has stuttered since the age of six. Stuttering has always been my area of passion, so this field is a lifestyle for me and has always been more than just a career. I guess that’s why I get so defensive when it comes to advocacy for people who stutter- because I used to go into “mama bear mode” so to speak for my brother even since I was a little girl. Every person has their “why” I call it for entering this field. NEVER FORGET YOUR WHY. Every job has pros/cons. Paperwork, policy changes, law changes, reimbursement changes, things that are out of our control no matter how much we advocate for the common good of the people we serve. ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR WHY. Those are your roots. My why, is my brother. I can never forget that- and that overruns any policy changes that will ever upset me, any paperwork changes that will ever stress me out, and anything that would EVER make me leave this profession- I can never leave it because it’s more than a profession like I said- it’s my life passion….. are you following? remember that why, and you won’t leave… forget your why and lose it- and you might…. Sometimes people do leave… if it’s right for you, you may someday… but don’t do it because you lost track of your “why”.. please… never do that. Best of luck in your studies, and I am SO HAPPY for you to enter this journey with us. It surely is a rewarding one. The best one ever.